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Monday, October 18, 2010

Day 15: 31 Days of Horror: The Omen


Sometimes, we meet children who we might classify as evil. An evil child might just be an overly mischievous one, a spoiled brat, or literally evil like the 'bad seed' I described in an earlier post. However, Damien Thorn is more than the typical evil. He is the Antichrist, which means he's similar to a bad seed, but worse because he's the spawn of Satan and a female jackal. He's been marked with the number of the beast on his scalp. Murdering is expected of him.

Of course, the American Ambassador to Italy, Robert Thorn, didn't know this about his son when he agreed to adopt him without ever telling his wife that Damien isn't their biological son. Their own son was stillborn and Robert adopted Damien from a priest after the he informed him that Damien's mother had died during childbirth and he had no other family. Everything with the child seems fine at first, however, once Robert moves the family to London. Strange things start to occur, including a dramatic suicide, consistent warnings from a priest, and unusual deaths, which are all oddly connected to Damien. As soon as Robert starts realizing this, he is shocked and unsure of what to do. Who will he go to? What will happen?

The Omen (1976) is a good movie and the score is perfectly horrific. The uncovering of Damien's past and the true meaning of his existence makes the film intriguing. The cast is quite good, especially Billie Whitelaw as Mrs. Baylock. She reminds me of Mrs. Danvers in Hitchcock's Rebecca. She is so creepy! Gregory Peck and Lee Remick were great and I loved David Warner as the photographer Keith Jennings. The guy that plays the priest is awesome, too. It's the performances given by all of them that makes the film worth seeing.

1 comments:

Jason H. said...

A classic. This movie really ruined some kids for me though. For example, when I was helping out at a theater camp for little kids, and all the boys had to wear little tuxedos, I couldn't be in the same room with them. Way too creepy.

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